Star Wars - Dawn of Defiance

Star Wars

Armed with new information, the heroes head off to the Yerith Bespin Hotel, one of the finest hotels in the galaxy. Whilst in the lobby, they easily spot a noble who is very upset with his accommodations. It is also quite obvious that he is being closely observed by his entourage of 6. While the hotel sorts out this problem, their group heads off to the market, with the heroes inconspicuously in tow…

Ostensibly as a cover story, Nuk picks up a pet Numbat from the market and Chumble soon becomes inseparable from her new owner. Then Bob spots their prey. Again they follow, this time down a laneway to a small courtyard. The heroes were not as inconspicuous as they thought, as they are confronted by the bodyguards and find themselves on the wrong side of many blasters. In the heat of the battle, a stray shot finds a home in Baron Kithriss' chest. Being an OCD person (and also covering his own ass), the Baron kept detailed notes about his task – full logs, notes, access card to his suite. The heroes decide to assume his identity and enter the tournament, especially after they find enough credits in the Baron's hotel room to front the entry fee.

While relaxing at the spa, their plan takes shape – Milandra will enter the Sabacc tournament with Nuk as a guest and Bob will get himself on security detail, with the help of a contact of Captain Okeefe. Meanwhile Switch also contacts them, and offers them a side deal to assist a player of his – the strikingly beautifull Captain Koroma Moro.

The tournament kicks off with a big ceremony and finally the 52 players take their seats. The Imperial officer is easy to spot as he does not try to hide his identity. Day one of the tournament goes well, with Milandra progressing to day two.

Day two also goes well, with Bob catching one of the players smuggling in a blaster pistol. The head of security takes care of this player. At the end of the day 14 players, including Milandra, progress through to the next round.

Our hero head off to Bespin, the famous Cloud City to find more information as to this mysterious deal Darga the Hutt has with the Empire.

All their enquiries turn to dead ends. However, when they return to the ship, Captain Okeefe gives them a threatening message. Crash managed to track it to the industrial sector. Bold as brass, off our heroes go. Quickly they find the Parliament of Guilds, that run one of the many Tibanna gas operations on the station. They are aware of two of their colleagues that are siphoning off the gas and selling it to the Hutt. They are too afraid to confront them however, and are willing to trade information if the Heroes deal with them.

Sure enough, our brave heroes corner the two dodgy Ugnaughts, who put up quite a fight for such little guys. They then learn that Darga has a deal going down with the Empire at the annual Sabacc tournament that is being held the following week. This is the largest shipment yet – gas for slaves. But who the player are, they don't know.

Our brave heroes are informed that Darga the Illustrious would have them attend an important audience with Imperial agents. Told to merely observe, the heroes mingle among the crowd. Bob gets stuck behind a big guy and just can't shake him. While he struggles to get a view, the two observant ladies listen as the Imperial Agent makes demands of the Hutt.

Suddenly, the Hutt calls for a recess, to the Agent's annoyance. A serving girl pulls the heroes round a back route to a small antechamber. The Hutt asks for the Heroes' opinion on the matter. They simply confirm the conclusion he had already come to: the increased production at a lower rate is fine, though the Imperial garrison is a bad idea. Pleased with his new arena champions' input, they all return to the audience chamber. It is only then, while Darga dictates his terms to the Imperial Agent, that the two ladies recognise the familiar face (Bob managed to place himself behind yet another tall alien and couldn't see anything). The Imperial Agent was aboard the Resurgence, and went by the name Alyssa. Not pleased with the outcome of the meeting, the Imperial trio depart immediately. Nonchalantly, Bob follows them out into the street, leaving the two ladies arguing.

As he turns a corner, the two soldiers grab him and slam him into a wall. Bob tries his best to change the topic as the Agent demands an explanation for his actions. Up close, Bob notices that the two soldiers are clones. She takes Bob's picture as the two ladies arrive. Looking them up and down, she and her two muscle men leave promptly.

Just as the heroes want to make their way back to the palace, a serving girl, returning from the market, passes and drops a fruit. Nuk picks it up, inspects it…and bites into it. Her senses tingle and she halts her jaws just as they are about to sink into an access card hidden inside the fruit. Bob nearly explodes with joy as he sees it is a green access card – just what he needs to finally get into the dungeons.

Meanwhile, Raden has been returned to the guest quarters.That evening, the heroes march down to the dungeons. Mr Green, the Gammorrean guard, is impressed that his friend, Mr Blue, got a green access card. Luckily all these colours do not create further confusion as he stands aside to let Bob and his two companions pass. As they get into the lift and tap the access card to the lift's control panel, they notice that an orange '-2' symbol is visible that was not there before. Eagerly Bob presses his thumb to the symbol. The lift rumbles down…….then Milandra & Nuk turn to Bob and berate him for his sound effects, as the lift would make no sound on its own.

A musty dank smell fills their delicate nostrils as the party looks down a corridor. Carefully they make their way to a larger room with three holding cells to the right, a storage room to the left, and what looks like an old hospital room. Once inside, they find an elderly lady in a deep, comatose sleep with machines and monitors hooked up to her – a tube is feeding a milky liquid into her veins. They manage to rouse her, seemingly unharmed.

She reveals herself to be Denia, a Jedi of the Republic. She believes the Clone War is still raging and that all the Jedi are alive and strong. She had inadvertently escaped Order 66. Eager to be free and with the promise that the heroes can remove her from the Hutt's palace, they ready themselves to depart. At that moment she informs them that the alarm has been raised and a short skirmish ensues with some Gammorean guards.

With the elevator locked down, the heroes follow a secret passage up to the throne room. Remaining unseen, they find the Hutt's major Domo speaking to a hologram of the Imperial Inquisitor, revealing him to have been in cahoots with the Empire. They try to sneak from the room, but Bob's sneaking skills betray them. A difficult battle, in and out of the shadows ensues.
With Raden coming to their aid, the heroes emerge victorious. After our heroes call for aid, Captain Okeefe makes a daring landing on a nearby rooftop. With Jedi Denia and Raden aboard the Banshee, our brave heroes return to the Resurgence.

After enjoying an extensive buffet for breakfast, a scandalously dressed twi'lek serving girl graciously notifies the heroes that their presence is required in a short while. Bob's new Gammorean friend gives him a thumbs-up, and grunts "Hey Blue!" as they pass one another.

Darga has summoned an audience to hear the complaint of the Iron Fist swoop gang – their accuse Darga of providing them with second rate slaves. Darga and the scarred Zabrak go into debate, though Darga seems bored. Nuk spots a serving girl tip a vial of bright purple liquid into a goblet of wine, intended for Darga. Is she going to raise the alarm? how much does she care? her motives have been a little … unclear lately.

Not to fear! she cried out "Darga don't drink that!". Outraged at the interruption, and the accusation that one of his favorite serving girls would try to poison him. Darga is quick to accuse the Zabrak spokes person of the Iron Fist. They quickly withdraw their complaint, as Igren Demos, Darga's major domo drags the girl off to the holding cells. Bob immediately goes to try his luck again with "Green", the Gammorean guard. Not noticing the Hutt slithering up behind him, Bob think he finally succeeded as Green steps aside.

Once in the holding cells, Darga enquires how the heroes knew of this, as Igren straps the girl to an interrogation chair. After an explanation, Darga dismisses them, and our concerned heroes as ushered out by Igren.

Deciding to try their luck, Melandra finds one of the serving girls and enquires after the one that was captured. She proves convincing enough that the girl agrees to meet them in an hour and take them to the staff quarters. Once there, Bob keeps a look out as Melandra & Nuk search the dingy little room for clues. They are interrupted by Sixty-six, who is not fooled by Bob's vain attempts at a bluff, and reveals himself to be an informant of the Information Dealer, Switch. Sixty-six explains that he periodically sends transmissions of the Hutt's off to Switch. However, lately he found some encrypted transmissions that Switch cannot decrypt. Passing them a memory chip, the Droid asks the Heroes to deliver it to Switch and see if they can decrypt it somehow. Once he leaves, Melandra uncovers a note and a spare vial of the bright purple poison in a foot locker. They decide, however, to put everything back as it was for fear of creating a false impression.

After lunch, the heroes head to the bar adjacent to the audience chamber to ask the friendly Chiss bartender a few questions. Bob also enquires after Raden Warrick. Not a moment later, Raden is dragged in by two guards and held infront of Darga's dial. After an eloquent and elaborate 'monolog' (via his translator), Darga issues an execution order for Raden…also, he instructs the Heroes to perform the execution. After a short moral deliberation, Bob takes the axe from his friend and bravely steps forward, to Melandra's great disgust. Swiftly, Bob pulls out a thermal detonator and activates it. Using this as leverage, Bob argues for Raden to avenge himself in the gladiator area. Darga is very pleased at this, and decrees that Raden will be on the Heroes' team as they complete in the area tomorrow.

Troubled by the turn out of events, the heroes struggle to sleep. Nuk in particular is having troubled dreams – finding herself walking alone in a dark forest. Suddenly mist presses in on her, and she hears a word of warning. She wakes. After some consideration of what to do….and hiding in the corner for a moment…she wakes Melandra. As the two step up to the door to leave, they find them selves face to face with two Quarren assassins…a third is busy slicing into Bob's apartment across the hall. After a difficult fight for their lives, the heroes dispose of two assassins and pin a third. The brave heroes, in their nighties, then see a black furred Wookkiee run off – this seems to be the same Wookkiee they saw in the Iron Fist delegation earlier in the day. After successful intimidation, they managed to get a name out of the assassin – Kooth Anan. Then backup arrived, the Hutt's guards take the assassin off their hands. Green is very chuffed that his friend, Bob, subdued the assailant.

As compensation, Sixty-six arranges for extra security and a Bacta tank for Nuk. The following morning, they find themselves in the arena, faced with the Karg Brothers (three Gammorean brothers), Zayda (a sniper) and RX-7246 the assassin droid. It was a grenade heave battle…a tough battle…with casualties on both sides. ….through the heroes emerge victorious and are showered in jewels and thunderous applause…

ok just a bag full of jewels…but there was an abundance in applause …and Darga is very impressed that the heroes bested his best gladiators.

Could Bob have a new friend? could the heroes find themselves in the arena again sometime in the near future? …. who knows…but for now…our heroes as having a good rest, in preparation for a big appointment the Hutt has planned…

In to a wretched hive of scum and villiany they go

With the heroes now fed and revived on the Resurgence, the Captain calls them into a conference room. Admiral Varth explains that part of his responsibility in a secret Imperial scheme known as the Sarlacc Project was to arrange the covert exchange of resources through a Hutt crime lord on the planet Cato Neimoidia. Captain Verana orders the heroes to infiltrate the Hutt's organisation and find what they can about the Hutt's dealings with the Empire.

Now that they are not covering her ship's floor in blood, the stern (yet beautiful when she makes that face) Captain Okeefe zips the valiant heroes off to Cato Neimoidia. Deciding to set down at a space port slightly further away from their target in the city of Zarra, the heroes play the roll of stowaways; and to the Captain's great delight, she gets to yell at them and drive them off her ship. When confronted by the dock administrator, the heroes nonchalantly direct her to the Captain.

After a strong drink at the tavern, the heroes barely survive a run in with infamous swoop gang, the Vipers. Following their gathered information to the industrial sector, the heroes search for a Rodian called Warrick Raden, one of Zarga's lackeys.

After an intense battle, Raden surrenders to the heroes and takes them to Zarga's palace – an old abandoned Nemoidian palace. Zarga is disappointed in Raden and he is taken to the holding cells. Curious about the heroes, Zarga extends them an invite to stay as guests.

THe heroes observe a gruesome gladiator battle between a lone Wookkiee and a band of Trandosians. There after Zarga invites the heroes to participate in droid racing. Sadly the heroes do not fair to well. Using the distraction and suspect of future events, Bob slips away and finds his way to the area's waiting area. Here he hides a blaster pistol.

The evening closes with entertainment and a feast – all the while, some of the heroes are aware of being watched by the Hutt's major domo. When approached, he stalks away.

During the night, Nuk is bothered by visions of some unknown person calling out for help.

The next day the heroes are entertained by music and another gladiator performance. Bob tries to go down to the holding cells to go down and see Raden. Dumb though the guard is, he knows his duty. Thereafter, Bob and the guard goes into a long pointless debate as Bob makes futile efforts to convince the guard that the key he is holding, gives him access to the holding cells. Clearly…the guard knows how to distinguish blue and green security key cards.

On a couple of occasions, Nuk is again plagued by voices of warning and pleading.

After the night's entertainment, the two ladies leave Bob and go to explore the grounds. Intrigued by a small two story building in the grounds, its lights shining a dim yellow in the dark evening, they wander over and knock on the door. An elderly Nemoidian named Gome, answers the door and is immediately intrigued by the two young girls he has found on his doorstep. In contrast to the outside of the cottage, the inside looks like a make shift command centre on a battlefield – a double row of computer screens line the living room, thick cables connect computers and cooling equipment. The screens are filled with financial figures, mathematical modelling and various broad casts of sports over the galaxy. Showing little loyalty to his employer, and with a clear weakness to the young ladies in his company, Gome spills the beans about the Hutt's operations. He reveals that the legitimate part of the operations are through funding teams of gladiators. He also adds that there is some business with the imperials.

What dangers await our heroes? What will they discover of the Sarlacc project… what is with the guard who can distinguish colour?! does Nuk have an aneurysm?

Episode I

And off rush our gallant heroes to the Imperial prison facility. To the great annoyance of Milandra, the Felucian scout takes time to point out every natural hazard as they make their trek through the luminescent jungle of Felucia.

The prison facility is a squat two story building and heavily guarded. Not to fear, the native knows a secret entrance – the life support exhaust vent. And in they go.

With a moment to strategize, and waiting for the patrol to pass, they sneak off to the communications room. Careful to only stun the two techies and officer, the heroes debate whether to plant the bomb or not. There after they head to the medical facility. To their horror, they discover where the missing Felucian scouts went – horrific experiments are being conducted on the natives, making them mindless, twisted and ugly. Their armour proves a problem for our brave heroes, but then a break – one of Nuk's explosive arrows dig into the flesh of one of the mutated Felucians, between two scales, and his guts explode outward, killing it instantly. The second one falls quickly afterward, and the evil doctor too. The patrolling guard rush to respond to the commotion. The heavy gunner proves a problem, but Bob expertly places a grenade at the feet of the heavy gunner, bringing him to a swift end. Taking a moment to catch their breath, the heroes then set off to the prison. The warden droid and detention block guard prove little resistance, and the heroes set Admiral Varth free. Two other human prisoners are also set free, one able to assist the heroes.

Going back the way they came, they find that the guard outside had killed the Felucian scout and are now standing guard at the exit of the ventilation pipe. Also, an Imperial AT-ST walker is clearly patrolling the area. The Admiral then suggests they make their way to the upper levels, to the roof. As they hurry back inside, Captain Okeefe reports in that she has the Banshee up and running. She is heading their way and can extract them from the roof.

As the turbolift rises to the second floor, the heroes find them selves in the command centre, with the commanding officer and two hulking, mutated Felucian warriors. Bob's fingers fly to a grenade as he presses the 'down' button on the turbo lift. Though he doesn't hit his mark, it turns out in his favour and Captain Vischera is badly wounded. Unfortunately, the two monstrous warrior jump down the elevator shaft. A heated battle for their lives ensue. Everyone scatters and tries their best to position themselves strategically. The Felucians are very tough, but they manage to kill one, knocking him corpse off the lift. As the second one lunges for the escaped prisoner, the heroes and the Admiral jump back onto the lift. Up they go. They make short work of the Captain. Now what to do about the two escapees below with the mutation? A brief argument follow, where Nuk wants to leave them to their fate, while Bob strongly disagrees. Thankfully, but they get back on the lift to descend and discover the fate of those below. Quickly the second Felucian tries to claw its way back on to the lift. having none of this, the heroes end his twisted life. Sadly, the two escapees did not make it – their bodies ripped apart.

Rattled and exhausted, the party heads to the roof, where the Banshee soon picks them up amid a hail of blaster fire from the guards outside. they trigger the bomb remotely, and watch the horrible place go up in a plume of fire and smoke.

Not impressed that the heroes are bleeding over her cargo bay, Captain Okeefe rush the heroes to the medical bay. Then they head to the Zandrax system. Here they board the Nebulon-B class frigate, the Resurgence. Captain of the Resurgence, Verana thanks the heroes and offers them permanent quarters aboard his ship with many other benefits, if they would enter into his employ as independent mercenaries. It does not take a moment for the heroes to agree. They spend two weeks on the frigate, recovering and eagerly awaiting what Admiral Varth has to share…

After having recovered, the brave heroes head to the Blue Deck to retrieve the Aldariaan agent frozen in carbonite.

Upon arrival on the Blue Deck, the heroes spot an imperial agent rushing off to the docking bay – the Empire had clear gotten wind of the precious cargo. The heroes hasten to the docking bay, hoping to salvage the situation. Saving the heroes some trouble, the empire had already retrieved the cargo, and was moving it to a waiting shuttle. Springing into action, the heroes engage the Imperial officer and 5 Stormies. The battle having taken its toll, and the cargo now in their hand, the heroes stand around wondering "what now?!"

In swoops the Banshee, captained by Captail Seleen Okeefe of Alderaan. Left with little options, and Imperial reinforcements on the way, the heroes board the yaught. After making a smooth getaway, the striking captain Okeefe introduces herself and her navigator, Crash, as friend of Maya and she was waiting for Maya to retrieve said cargo.

On Alderaan, captain Okeefe takes the heroes to the private estates of Senator Bail Organa. Pleased with the heroes performance, he entices them to assist in another quest for him. A veteran of the Clone Wars, Admiral Gilder Varth disapproves of the way the Emperor is twisting the once great Galactic Republic. It has been just over a month since the last communication rom the Admiral. It would appear that the Admiral has been taken to a prison facility on Felucia. Fearing that the Admiral has been discovered, and fear that a valuable ally might be lost, Bail Organa send the heroes to the beautiful, yet dangerous jungle world of Felucia.

As the blue tunnel of hyperspace fades away and the pinpoints of stars fill the windows of the cockpit, the heroes briefly glimpse the planet Felucia hanging just below. Almost instantly their eyes are drawn to the dagger-shaped starship looming ahead – an Imperial Star Destroyer. As the Star Destroyer changes course to intercept, Captain Okeefe quickly evades. Though great her skills are, the Banshee gets hammered by a couple of shots, sending the heroes plumeting to the planet's surface. She manages to safely land the ship, though repairs are needed and the heroes will have to make the rest of the journey on foot.

Milandra, the scout, did an excellent job of tracking through the jungle, avoiding many dangerous hazards. None the less, the heroes are ambushed by four seemingly brave Felucian warriors. The ambush party falls quickly, and a hermit arrives just to late to explain that this is all a terrible mistake. Formerly, Captain Varzus Mandrake, had let troops in the battle of Felucia. Similarly to the Admiral they were sent to rescue, the heroes learn that Varzus Mandrake took pity on the Felucian villagers and had become a hermit, living among them.

Having difficulty convincing the chief of their intentions to help and destroy the prison facility, the heroes spot a Storm Trooper Scout race away from the village. Varzus provides native Kybucks to the heroes and impresses on them the urgency that they catch the scout. And the chase is on. The heroes chase the speederbike through the dense jungle, through hollow tree trunks and even successfully evades the death throws of a dying rancor. The heroes discover a small imperial communications outpost. Bob makes short work of the Storm Troopers with the aid of grenades.

Back to the village, the chief is impressed and offers the aid of a scout to lead them to the Imperial garrison. Nuk & the Chief also swap some stories and she learns some new skills to lash out with the Force.

Episode I

After finishing a mission, Bob & his faithful companion (yet to be named), find them selves on the Sel Zonn space station above the core world of Brenthaal. After having to spend most of their funds on supplies, the duo head to the Gundark's Cantina. Here they meet Nuk Marr, Zabrak with no love for the empire as she, herself was destined to study to become a Jedi. Looking for allies against the Empire, Nuk joins the human duo.

As they wander out on to the busy promenade of the station, a young female technician stumbles towards them, desperately calling for help. Shortly after a fire fight breaks out between the trio, two Storm troopers and two Imperial agents. Sadly, they do not manage to save the woman. As they recouperate, Bob investigates a datapad they found. It is revealed that she was an agent of the Alderaniaan Security Force and was after valuable cargo.

Following clues uncovered from the datapad, the party find themselves creeping through the underbelly of the station to a storage unit. While Bob & Nuk stage an elaborate diversion, their remaining party member enters the storage unit. Here she finds the information broker Switch, a protocol droid. After a lengthy exchange, the party convinces (by means of most of the party's funds) Switch to reveal the location of the cargo. He also reveals the cargo to be a member of the Adleraanian Security Force, frozen in carbonite.

As the party is about to leave, a unhappy contact of Switch blunders in and the party soon finds themselves in the thick of it. Barely managing to save Switch and themselves the party seeks to recover before hunting down they valuable cargo.

When does it play off?

The Dawn of Defiance campaign opens some months after the rise of the Empire, with the Clone Wars a very recent and vivid memory for most beings in the galaxy. The Empire has begun tightening its grip on star systems throughout the galaxy, and Darth Vader stands at the newly declared Emperor’s right hand, crushing any opposition and hunting down the last remnants of the Jedi Order. In these short months since the fall of the Republic, many have joined the Empire willingly, including the Core Worlds whose Human nobles stand to benefit a great deal from its tyranny. Similarly, many others have begun rebelling against Imperial oppression, finding themselves driven out of their homes (or worse) and forced to live in a galaxy that tolerates no opposition to the Empire.

The adventure log is where you list the sessions and adventures your party has been on, but for now, we suggest doing a very light “story so far” post. Just give a brief overview of what the party has done up to this point. After each future session, create a new post detailing that night’s adventures.

One final tip: Don’t stress about making your Obsidian Portal campaign look perfect. Instead, just make it work for you and your group. If everyone is having fun, then you’re using Obsidian Portal exactly as it was designed, even if your adventure log isn’t always up to date or your characters don’t all have portrait pictures.